The Month in Brief - April 2007

Russian human rights activists sent an open letter to US President George W. Bush in protest against his March 26 meeting in the Oval Office with retired Russian general Vladimir Shamanov, who is believed to be responsible for serious crimes against civilians by Russian forces in Chechnya.

April 5

The inauguration of the new Kremlin-backed Chechen President, Ramzan Kadyrov, took place in Gudermes, Chechnya's second largest city.

The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia for the disappearance and death of a 61-year old Chechen man, Shakhid Baysayev, who was detained during a mop-up operation conducted by Russian police force units (OMON) in the Chechen village of Podgornoye in March 2000.

April 6

Following President Kadyrov's inauguration, the government of the Chechen Republic announced its resignation, in accordance with the Chechen constitution.

April 7

A rally in memory of the slain Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was held on Moscow's Pushkin Square. Several hundred participants also commemorated other slain Russian journalists, political prisoners, and the 11th anniversary of the destruction of the Chechen village of Samashki by Russian forces.

Chechen resistance leader Dokka Umarov signed a decree reviving the so-called "Sharia Guard" in the structures of the Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, according to the April 27 report by the pro-guerrilla website Daymohk.org. The “Sharia Guard” was disbanded by the then Ichkerian President Aslan Maskhadov after the tragic armed clashes that took place in Gudermes in mid-July 1998.

April 10

The Chechen parliament approved President Ramzan Kadyrov's nomination of Odes Baysultanov as head of Chechnya's Moscow-backed government. Baysultanov is Kadyrov's cousin and from March 2006 worked as first deputy prime minister in the government of the then Prime Minister Kadyrov.

April 11

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov signed a decree outlining a nationalities policy for the republic and envisaging a return to a multi-ethnic state.

April 12

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov appointed three deputy chairmen of the Moscow-backed Chechen government: Adam Delimkhanov (deputy prime minister in the previous government), Abdulkakhir Izrailov (head of the presidential and government office) and Lyoma Magomadov (former head of the Chechen transport inspectorate).

April 16

Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is one of the possible successors to the incumbent President Vladimir Putin, visited Chechnya.

April 17

The Russian Prosecutor General's office announced that Yuri Turygin replaced Makhmud-Ali Kalimatov as Ingushetia's public prosecutor.

The Russian Prosecutor General's office announced that Denilbek Khadzhiyev, a highly-placed Chechen official, had been detained on suspicion of embezzling budget funds allocated for the reconstruction of Chechnya.

April 18

The Russian State Duma increased the penalties for spreading extremist propaganda.

Bekkhan Taymaskhanov, first deputy envoy of the Chechen Republic at the office of the Russian President, replaced Khuseyn Dzhabrailov as the Chechen President's special representative in Moscow.

April 18-28

Following approval by the local parliament, the Moscow-backed Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov gradually appointed the ministers whom he nominated to serve in the new Chechen government.

April 20

The pro-guerrilla website Kavkaz-Center reported that the father of Chechen resistance leader Dokka Umarov, 74-year-old Khamad Umarov, had been killed in Chechnya.

April 23

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin died of heart failure in a Moscow hospital, aged 76. He was burried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow on April 25.

April 24

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov held a meeting in Moscow with Abubakar Arsamakov, chairman of the Moscow Industrial Bank, who recently announced his intention of investing in economic and social spheres in the Chechen Republic. The businessman's brothers, Yunus and Yusup Arsamakov, who were abducted on February 8, have not yet been found.

April 27

A Russian military helicopter crashed in Chechnya's Shatoysky district during a battle with Chechen guerrillas, killing 18-20 people on board. Early news reports and pro-guerrilla websites said the Mi-8 helicopter had been shot down, while the Moscow-backed Chechen authorities rejected it.

Compiled by Prague Watchdog. Along with these monthly summaries, we also publish weekly summaries, distributing them on Mondays to the subscribers of our free weekly newsletter.

The views expressed on this web site are the authors' own, and don't necessarily reflect the views of Prague Watchdog,which aims to present a wide spectrum of opinion and analysis relating to events in the North Caucasus.